`Branson can't afford us,' says Millwall director

By Mihir Bose

7:41PM BST 20 Sep 2001

COULD this be a good time to buy a football club? Clubs' shares, like the rest of the market, have fallen since Sept 11 and even Manchester United's do not look that expensive. After peaking at £4 in March 2000, they were down to £1.53 before the New York tragedy and yesterday were £1.28.

Not many will seek to buy United, but what about Millwall? They have a cracking ground which seats 20,000, a newly promoted team and shares that are trading at .75p, which makes the club worth just £15 million.

When I put the question to Reg Burr, the Millwall director and life president, he fairly snorted in rage. "Millwall is fireproof," he said. "Branson could not buy Millwall. I know the shares are trading at .75p but they are very widely distributed, we have some 40,000 shareholders and the moment anyone starts buying they will go up ten times. In that case, just buying a controlling 30 per cent would cost nearly £50 million and, given the news of the airlines industry, I doubt if Branson has that sort of money. It is a ludicrous idea, don't make me laugh."

What is interesting is how well Millwall's price has stood up. Watford are worth less than £1 million, Leicester £17 million, Sunderland £35 million, Leeds £38 million, Newcastle £47 million, Tottenham £47 million. Even mighty Chelsea are worth less than four times Millwall, at £57 million.

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Football shares have been down for a long time, and the indications this week are that small shareholders are selling packets of 5,000 shares. If a real recession comes, then prices will fall further and, maybe, that is what the potential buyers of clubs are waiting for.